What did you Think of The Girl Who Died?

Now that the highly anticipated fifth episode of series 9 has been aired what did you think? Was it everything you had hoped for or not what you expected

Captured by Vikings, the Doctor and Clara must help protect their village from Space Warriors from the future: the Mire. Outnumbered and outgunned, their fate seems inevitable. So why is the Doctor preoccupied with a single Viking girl?

I have to say that so far this season has been a let down.
Not that its really bad, but it certainly isn’t as good as it should be.

I think the problem is that the (few) other shows I watch have all come back with great openers (Walking Dead S06E01 + 02… WOW) But so far the Doctor has yet to wow me. Such a shame as P.C. is my favourite Doctor so far, since the shows revival (don’t think any one will beat the great Tom Baker!). But he is certainly more in line with the classic Doctors than the youthful running and spinning doctors of previous seasons.

It’s time for SM to step away from the keyboard and leave the writing duties to better folks.

It was co-written by Steven Moffat and Jamie Mathieson (Last year’s Mummy/Flatline writer) not Toby Whithouse (I don’t know WHERE everybody’s getting that idea from). Toby wrote Under the Lake/Before the Flood.

Also, how do you know which bits Moffat wrote – I’d imagined that he’d come in to write the face bit rather than the viking bit but how can any of us be sure without them telling us (which as far as I’m aware, they haven’t)?

Even without seeing the titles one could tell that this was a TW / SM adventure. Without a doubt the worst episode of the series so far.

What could and should have been a terrific story became the stuff of pantomime. The Mire had terrific potential but old Captain Hook …. aaarrrrrr…… was awful. Vikings against aliens. What could go wrong? Its a pity TW/SM didnt watch Outlander (film) or 13th Warrior (both very underrated in my opinion) to see how it should have been done.

Why bring back the soap opera dramatics of Clara again just when Dr Who was getting interesting again? One glance at the writers tells us why. And as for the dialogue…. Please say goodbye Mr Moffat. And quickly.

As for the block of wood acting of Maisie Williams. Im told shes a decent actress but as Ive never seen her before I can only go on this performance, so either she needs to get the sandpaper out or my heart goes out to her having to act that part.

Anyway, Ive really enjoyed the series up to this point. Hopefully it will get back on track with the next episode.

So the average for that series is 7.27 so not far under Series 9 so far.

47

October 19th, 2015 - 10:03am

Apart from Peter Capaldi in a couple or three scenes near the end which highlight how good he is, this was a rather poor episode. Nonsense story, nonsense ‘villain’ and yet another re-treading of the Doctor/Clara relationship and character ‘dilemas’, the whole episode was a dull, waste of time, just to set up a new character/plot/story point. After the last four excellent episodes, this was a big step backwards……. Hopefully just a filler, though………

An excellent episode with some nice fun parts thrown in. Masie seemed to be a bit disconnected from things at some points, but she was a very worthy addition – I hope she is not overused. One major gripe though – Moffat seems to treat viewers like idiots sometimes. Every schoolchild know that Viking helmets did NOT have horns on them!

If you read this months doctor who magazine, writer toby whitehouse explains that the look was intentional for the program a misconception of how vikings really looked. A mythologised look. I don,t think his idea was to patronise the audience.

Anonymous

October 19th, 2015 - 4:55pm

It was not written by Whithouse though…

the ergon

October 19th, 2015 - 5:28pm

No but he directed it knowing this inaccuracy.

the ergon

October 19th, 2015 - 5:44pm

I apologise, it was ed bazalgette who directed. In any case as toby mentioned, they are aware but prepared for it to go out, accepting Vikings didn,t have horns on their helmets. Wasn,t the Viking helmet the first doctor found in ‘the time meddler’ a Viking helmet?

Anonymous

October 19th, 2015 - 10:16pm

Yes, and they’d also know that Vikings are the members of raiding parties, not just everyone in the Norse community. Doctor Who history is not the same as real world history, as long as the production team are willing to point out the “discrepancies” are for stylistic reasons and not genuine screw ups then there’s nothing wrong with it.

the ergon

October 20th, 2015 - 12:26pm

Exactly. and more enjoyable for it. The historicals for me are far better when played in a romp like fashion. I don,t give a hoot about discrepancies. The magic of who is that it can take any point in history and be as malleable as it likes.

Dalek the Supreme

October 18th, 2015 - 6:54pm

It was a fun episode. I loved the opening scene where it’s business as usual, and the scene where the Doctor brags about the Sonic Sunglasses, just before they get destroyed. Hopefully that’s the end of them. The girl was interesting enough, although I can’t remember her name. The other supporting characters, especially the Doctor’s dynamic with them, was hilarious. This episode had some great dialogue, with the conversations about whether the Doctor should or shouldn’t help the people fight. The Mire were decent, but nothing all that special, which made their humiliating defeat at the end of the episode work. That was hilarious. The only complaint I really have with the episode is the sudden, serious change in tone when the girl dies, and how the Doctor’s reasoning behind his face is suddenly brought up and explained, after being forgotten since Deep Breath. This is a complaint I have with a lot of the Twelfth Doctor’s character arcs. They’re interesting enough, but they get dropped for a whole bunch of episodes, and brought up again with very little buildup. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable episode, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Also, between the girl, the person she gives the other kit to, and the Time Lord Daleks, I think we have our story arc for the season: hybrids.

Wow, really, 2/10? There were some really nice moments, continued subtle development of Clara, some decent comedy bits, brilliant shock revelations at the end relating to Capaldi’s face and the Hybrid. Seems a little harsh but whatever.

Dalekparadigm2

October 18th, 2015 - 3:30pm

So far my best to worst this series are:

Under the Lake
Before the Flood
The Magician’s Apprentice
The Witch’s Familiar
The Girl Who Died

I think if Moffat didn’t co-write last night’s episode then it would’ve been so much better.

I totally agree. Steven Moffat shouldn’t have had any input. Just sack him.

Anonymous

October 18th, 2015 - 4:10pm

I disagree. It was Moffats input that saved the episode from being another Robots of Sherwood. Its set up next weeks…and possibly many more episodes nicely. Yep, the weakest of the series so far…but that says more about the strength of the 4 episodes prior to it…2 of which were written by SM.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be a DW fan when I read immature, irrational and utterly subjective comments like those left above.

Dalek the Supreme

October 18th, 2015 - 7:02pm

I honestly think The Magician’s Apprentice is the weakest. That’s not saying much, because I haven’t disliked an episode of this season so far.

Dalekparadigm2

October 18th, 2015 - 10:46pm

I personally think that The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor have been the best Moffat episodes. I do also think that he has had enough time on the show. He’s run out of ideas. This episode could’ve been so much more but if you look at my other ratings, out of 5 episodes so far, all that were written or co-writen by Moffat have been at the bottom of the list. Toby Whithouse for lead writer. Those last two were great!

Clarice

October 19th, 2015 - 12:29am

@Dalekparadigm2 I agree that the Day of the Doctor and the Time of the Doctor are some of the best, but I disagree that he’s had enough time on the show. I think he has an incredible attention to detail–the little snide comments and under-the-breath remarks he writes into every episode he’s a part of, prove that. This might’ve not been his best yet, but I still look forward to all the new episodes and wild ideas he has to bring to the series. I guess only time will tell how he does this season!

Anonymous

October 19th, 2015 - 1:29am

Remember Toby Whitehouse wrote Vampires of Venice and A Town Called Mercy…hardly the finest scripts. Kind of proves many of these comments are not even thought through.

The point is…it doesn’t matter who is leader writter…their will always be haters and complainers.

SM is doing a fantastic job, not only with his own writing but recruiting other writers and directing their scripts.

Clarice

October 27th, 2015 - 6:02am

^^^ I second that!

Olga

October 18th, 2015 - 1:32pm

I quite liked the episode but I think it’s been the worst from series 9 so far. The beginning was weird. Then it got a bit more interesting but the enemy was a joke.What was that? It was more like a parody of Doctor Who and would be perfect for Red Nose Day. I’m not a huge fan of Maisie Williams as well. She doesn’t really fit Doctor Who and I thought she’s about 14. What I liked the most about the episode was Peter Capaldi. He’s great as the Doctor.

I don’t mind a more comedic villain. After all the dead-seriousness of the Daleks, Davros, the ghosts, the Fisher King, the Cybermen, basically, after almost every villain of the Twelfth Doctor’s era so far, I like that they’re taking a break and giving us something more fun for once.

Olga

October 18th, 2015 - 7:22pm

I agree with you but I still think the vilain should have been either more funny or more serious. He was silly but not in that funny way (raher in “was that for real?” way). It’s just my opinion but I’m still optimistic about the series.

the ergon

October 18th, 2015 - 1:13pm

I enjoyed it even if the basic ‘stranger comes to town and rallies the locals to fight back is as old as the hills. If maisie Williams wasn,t so established an actress and had been unknown, imagine the possibilities they could do with the ashildr character. So much potential there. Hope her characters able to return,as with River song, she could flit in and out playing a different guise. I,m looking forward to next week now with her Nightmare character. I like the pseudo historicals more anyway. I still can,t understand why the 5th doctor modelled his face on commander maxil. Understandable with the 12th doctor.

I’m sorry but I found it a bit boring. Yes it had a nice little flash back to Tennant and Tate, but I can see why thousands of people are switching off. I feel Doctor Who is too tame for a modern audience. Look at big shows like the walking dead, game of thrones, true blood. They all feature blood and gore and adult themes. We never ever see a drop of blood in Who! It’s content could be shown on CBBC as a replacement for the Sarah Jane Adventures. This week we had Vikings having their adrenalin and testosterone extracted and yet all we saw was a little zap of electricity and a puff of smoke. It’s just not scary.

The shows you mention are all aimed at the adult viewer whereas Doctor Who is aimed at a family audience, but I agree with you, they could up the scare factor a bit so the whole family can enjoy it not just the kids

Exterminator

October 18th, 2015 - 1:01pm

I realise those shows are for an adult audience but I would guess that the majority of Dr Who’s audience is adult. Last nights episode wasn’t at all scary and I can’t imagine any kids having nightmares after watching it. One of the Vikings fainted at the sight of blood! Really??? Blood that we didn’t even see. 2/10 for me.

the astronaut of death

October 18th, 2015 - 1:31pm

oh come on , we have had 4 weeks of rather dark episodes , so i think its alright to get a light hearted one now and then.

Exterminator

October 18th, 2015 - 5:05pm

If they want kids to be talking about Dr Who in the school playgrounds, they need to add a bit of horror and gore. Kids love it.

This week could’ve been kids saying to there friends at school: ‘Did you see Dr Who this week?’ ….. ‘Yeah, that really cool bit where the Vikings got mashed up and you saw their heads getting squashed! How cool was that!’

I don’t think many will be talking about a zap of electricity and puff of smoke.

the astronaut of death

October 18th, 2015 - 7:08pm

the kids might love it , but the parents wont like them loving it , or even watching it for that matter.

Dalek the Supreme

October 18th, 2015 - 7:08pm

I don’t think most parents will be letting their children watch shows where people are getting their heads crushed.

Exterminator

October 18th, 2015 - 10:05pm

Well the ratings are dropping every week, they need to do something and quickly.

Rufus

October 19th, 2015 - 10:18am

Who is not about blood and guts and pointless head smashing.

Exterminator

October 19th, 2015 - 1:40pm

Who is about being scared of the monsters and aliens and hiding behind the sofa and telling your school friends how scary it was.

It takes more to scare audiences these days. That’s the point I’m trying to make.

The Dire (lol) were just terrible.

Anonymous

October 19th, 2015 - 3:58pm

@Exterminator the over night ratings are dropping but the final ratings aren’t and those are the ones that matter

Anonymous

October 19th, 2015 - 3:59pm

@Exterminator the type of show you want is not Doctor Who

Exterminator

October 19th, 2015 - 5:13pm

I’ve been a fan since the 70’s. I’m just saying that compared to other hit shows, Who is tame in comparison.

This weeks episode wouldn’t have been out of place on CBEEBIES!

Exterminator

October 19th, 2015 - 6:43pm

Ok, just completed the BBC survey about this weeks episode. I’ve been positive up until now.

the astronaut of death

October 19th, 2015 - 6:53pm

doctor who is its own show it does not need to copy other shows

Exterminator

October 19th, 2015 - 7:06pm

You’re absolutely right. There’s nothing else like it which is why we all love it and it’s lasted so long. But, I’m not alone in thinking that wasn’t a very good episode.

The Moffat Paradox

October 19th, 2015 - 11:01pm

LOL There was actually MORE blood and gore on Downton Abbey this weekend!

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